Split Ring
by GirlquinndreameR
Summary: During a quiet moment away from all the chaos, Ranma and Akane take matters into their own hands. "Face it, Ranma, a wedding probably won't happen, no matter how much we planned it..."
1. Chapter 1

Split Ring

A Ranma ½ fanfic

Note: Part 1. Sometimes, my mind wanders at work and it ventures into old fandoms. Very old fandoms. So, here we are.

And hopefully, I caught all my typos and errors. This was written one night, during my day off, 9pm to 1am.

* * *

Akane took a deep breath, the warm Okinawan summer air filling her lungs. The sky was cloudless, hot sunrays bearing down on everyone at the resort.

It was nice to be on this getaway; she had been looking forward to it for months. This past winter was brutal, with thicker snow than usual covering the Nerima streets. They were snowed in for days. School was cancelled for most of the week, businesses were closed, and all the inhabitants of the Tendo household were on lockdown.

It was actually her father's idea to take a vacation. There was a flux of clients that showed up in the spring, paying for a thirty-day trial at the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts dojo. 'Try it out for thirty days for this low price', the advertisement basically said. Nabiki got the idea to give martial arts trials on a website which offered coupons to various local businesses. Soun and Genma were hesitant at first. They were old school, if you will. This wasn't a trivial gym membership. This was an art form, a discipline.

But so many people came in. And those people brought money. Some even stayed more than the month trial.

Everyone was up for a summer vacation. Her sisters, Ranma, Genma… then Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi, Kuno-senpai, Mousse, Cologne, Happosai... Yup, Akane sighed. Everyone.

It was nice that Ryouga showed up at the resort yesterday. She had called him a week ago, and she wanted to buy him time in case he got lost (which, he did).

As she wandered around the resort grounds, she could feel the short hairs on the nape of her neck beginning to stick to her skin. Up the path, she entered a small building at the end of the property, tucked in the gardens.

As soon as she opened the door, she felt an immediate gust of air. It was a gentle breeze, coming for the large wooden blade ceiling fan, which was suspended over the foyer. The motif of the lush nature outside was mimicked in the foyer: large leaves sprouting out of a river-rock bed, with a dark wooden walkway assembled over the said rocks.

Akane walked deeper into foyer. In the corner of her eye, she noticed an older man, arranging some leatherbound books into neat piles on a table in the hallway. "Good afternoon," she bowed her head.

"Hello," he turned to her, returning the gesture-greeting.

"Um… Is it alright if I walk around for a bit?" the numerous ceiling fans was such a nice getaway from the heat, she thought.

"Oh, please, help yourself," the man smiled.

"Thank you." She glanced around her, looking down the two hallways that were on either side of her. She could have gone down one of them, but something about the double doors right in front of her was calling to her, beckoning. She reached a hand out and pulled on one of the handles, forcing the door to open for her.

The room behind the doors was much larger than the foyer. Ceiling fans darted the space, and rows of pews were arranged to face the wall to wall windows. In front of the large window was a large, thick wooden table, covered in a crisp white cloth.

From the outside, Akane would have never imagined that this building was a chapel.

And to her surprise, she saw a familiar figure sitting down in a pew two rows from the altar. She knew that head of black hair and set of broad shoulders anywhere. It also helped that she could see his signature black braid lazily draped on his right deltoid. Curious, she quietly walked up the center aisle. "Ranma?" she caught his attention.

He briefly glanced back over his shoulder, although he knew it was her just by her footsteps and aura alone. "Hey," he greeted, then turned back to the windows behind the altar.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging out. Trying to get away from the crap outside."

By crap, he meant everyone wanting to go to the pool. But that was something he didn't want to risk. Knowing his luck, he would get splashed, Kuno-senpai would harrass him, Kodachi would attack him, and Ukyo and Shampoo who was previously trying to fawn over him would get into a fight with the Kuno siblings, Happosai would try to grab a feel on every female, and that's just the start.

Basically, their normal everyday life.

"Yeah," Akane took a seat at the pew right behind him. "I was trying to get out of the heat."

She watched him, watched the lines of his right arm as it was draped on his backrest, every muscle and vein outlined under his skin. She could barely make out his face, but she could see him staring out of the window, into the view of the blue sky. It wasn't a blank stare by any means. "What's up?" Akane leaned forward, cradling her chin on her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees.

"Huh?"

"Your face. You look like you're thinking. Don't hurt yourself," she verbally jabbed at him.

"Hah-hah," Ranma side-eyed her, letting out a dry, fake laugh.

She smirked back. "No, but really, in all seriousness, what were you thinking about?"

He looked at her carefully, reading the interest in her eyes, before asking, "What do you think you'll be doing after high school?"

"What?"

"After Furinkan High," Ranma repeated in different words. "What do you see yourself doing?"

Akane's hands dropped to cross onto her lap. "Well… I would still be training, definitely. But I want to go to college. Study business, so I can help with the dojo. What about you?"

"I think I'd get a job."

Akane raised a dubious eyebrow. "A job?"

"Yeah," Ranma pivoted his body so that he was facing her more, right arm still draped over the backrest. "Earn enough money so that I can travel the world. And learn as many martial arts as I can. Then, come back to the dojo and officially open it up for business under our management. Think you can finish school by then?"

"Um…" she wasn't sure why, but something about what he said caught her by surprise. She couldn't understand why. They've been engaged of almost two years now; she knew she was supposed to marry him eventually. Hell, it could have happened last year, had it not been for their normal life fiasco interrupting their relationship and hitting pause.

"Relationship" for lack of a better word. She and he had never even said those three words out loud to one another. "I, uh, maybe. But…"

" 'But'?"

"To be honest, I always thought I would manage the school when I was married. With my husband."

"And?"

"And, we're not married, Ranma."

"Oh," he breathed, as if suddenly realizing their status. "But, we're engaged."

"You really think that's going to change?" Akane couldn't believe how naive he was. "With the way our lives are, you think there will come a time when we'll have no fights, no interruptions, no random craziness?" Akane scoffed. "I could name four reasons why we'll never get married," and she began to count off on her fingers. "Ukyo, Shampoo, Kuno-senpai, Kodachi-."

"P-chan," he grunted under his breath.

Akane froze. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Nothing," Ranma shook his head and turned away, a sour expression still clearly visible on his face.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but nevertheless, continued on. "Face it, Ranma, a wedding probably won't happen, no matter how much we planned it."

Ranma stood up straight, nearly startling Akane. "Wait there," he instructed, and he dashed out the door into the foyer. Akane watched curiously as she heard muffled voices coming from the closed foyer door. She stood, watching the door, trying to make out words, but soon it stopped, just as Ranma re-entered the chapel. "Okay," he muttered to himself, as if trying to organize his thoughts. "You're right, Akane," he said as he walked up to her, stopping at the opening of her pew. "Let's just not plan it then. Let's just do it."

"Do...what?"

"Get married."

Akane's eyes widened like saucers. "What?"

The doors opened. The man who she saw earlier entered, this time with a small piece of paper in his hand. He briefly skimmed over it as he was walking towards them. "Are we ready?" he asked, looking to the couple.

"Ready for what?" Akane couldn't keep up with what was going on in Ranma's head.

"This guy is a priest-."

"Uh, Minister," the old man corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Ranma brushed it off. "He can marry us right here, right now."

If Akane's face didn't look surprised earlier, it sure did now. She could feel the floor open from underneath her, the pure wave of shock and nerves hitting her like an uppercut. "WHAT?"

"C'mon, it makes sense," Ranma reasoned. "Like you said, if we plan something, it'll all just blow up in our faces. Let's not plan it, let's just go through with it."

Akane could feel her whole body flush with anticipation, her heartbeat punching into her upper ribcage. "But- this-this is nuts!"

"No, it's not!" Ranma argued. "It makes sense! You want to get married, right?"

Akane opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

This time, Ranma's face showed nervousness and anxiety. "You… Akane? You still do, right?"

"Do… do you?"

A blush erupted from Ranma's cheeks. "I-I asked you first."

"I'm asking you now."

"Well-erm, that," he placed both hands on the back of his head, looking away.

Akane knew how he felt. She was positive. But, even at this stage in the game, they couldn't be honest with one another and tell each other? Really? Why? She thought back to when she woke up in his arms, back in China after the final fight with Saffron, feeling his tears pouring down his face, wetting her fingertips as she reached out for his cheek. He thought she died that day, he thought he didn't have a chance to say he loved her.

But does it really matter?, Akane asked herself. Because on that day, she could feel it. He didn't say the words out loud but she could feel his declaration fill her from head to toe. It was like nothing she ever experienced before. Like sunlight warming every vessel inside her, like butterflies erupting in her chest, like finally releasing a breath in utter and unquestionable happiness she had been holding in for years...

And those times when he blatantly called out that "Akane is mine"... for once in her life, she wanted to claim "Ranma is mine."

She wanted that. So badly.

Akane stood up from her seat, bracing her hand onto the pew. Ranma watched her carefully as she straightened her light yellow sundress, the hem falling mid-thigh. Then, she looked up to him, met his gaze, and said, "Okay."

Ranma's eyes widened. "Yeah? Really?"

"Mm-hm."

"Shall we?" the reverend gestured to the altar.

"Oh-okay. Um, yeah," he put his arms to his sides and then stepped back, letting Akane through. They walked side by side before they stopped at the top step of the four step altar space. The minister took his place at the front, his back to the windows, while Ranma and Akane stood in front of him, facing each other.

"Um, excuse me," Akane looked to the minister. "Can you just skip to the important part?" Knowing their luck, an interruption would happen any minute now.

The reverend smiled. "Do you have your own vows?"

Akane blinked. "Um… not really."

"Actually," Ranma cleared his throat, his eyes momentarily closed before reaching to hold her hands. "Um…"

Akane could feel warm tingling sensations trickle its way from their point of contact.

"So…" Ranma began, "you know, I'm not really good at words, so I'm going to try and give this my best shot. When the old man told me I was engaged to be married to a Tendo, I wasn't too happy about it. You know, being forced into it. I guess, if I had to, I hope I would end up with a typical ideal wife: graceful, well-mannered, a great cook, someone really nice. Then, you were picked on the spot, and turns out, you were nothing like that."

An angry twitch manifested on Akane's face. Seriously?!

"Let's be honest, you're kind of a brute, you're short-tempered, your cooking attempts should be quarantined by poison control, you-."

"Are these vows or insults?!" she raised her voice at him.

"Hey, if you just give me a minute!" Ranma declared, defensively. "As I was saying, you at first seemed to not be a typical ideal wife. And then, I got to know you. And it turns out, typical doesn't matter. 'Cause, see, I saw that you were strong-willed, driven, and you have this capacity for compassion I don't think I've ever seen in anyone before. So yeah, you're not perfect. I'm not perfect. But that doesn't matter, because I want you with me. And I'm going to keep wanting you with me. So, yeah… that's it." Throughout his vow, his gaze was fixed to their hands, as their grip was around hers. However, when he was finished, his eyes fell on her face, only to widen in panic.

Akane could feel small tears falling down her face. She sniffled, and rubbed her nose briefly on her forearm.

"Wh-what are you crying for?" Ranma panicked.

"I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are!"

"It was just really sweet! I'm fine!" Akane exclaimed awkwardly. "Okay, hang on, I want to say something too, um…" she had to take a few more short breaths to compose herself. "So, I first met you, you know. Boy you. And I thought you were an insensitive jerk, a pervert, an arrogant idiot… and at times, you still are-."

"Hey, you," Ranma glared at her with narrowed eyes.

"How does it feel, getting a taste of your own medicine?" Akane returned his glare with equal annoyance.

The minister said nothing, only stood silently, trying to keep his judgements off his face.

Akane took a deep breath, sighed, and dug into her inner willpower to continue. "But, Ranma… despite all that, you are always keeping me protected. When I'm around you, I can feel your strength, and it could be when we're walking to school, or in the middle of the fight of our lives. I feel safe with you. I feel like because of you, I have a sense of freedom to be myself. And I hope, I could give you that feeling too. A safe space, where you can be who you want to be, without any judgement, or expectations. Like… a home," Akane realized, through all the jabbering and scattered thoughts, exactly what she wanted to say. "You're my home, Ranma. And I want to be yours. I'll do everything in my power to be."

"Akane…" Ranma looked at her with an expression of wonderment. His lips were slightly parted as his blue-grey eyes gazed at her, drinking in her words. His grip on her hands tightened ever so gently, and he looked down, closing his eyes.

Akane's brow furrowed. "Are-are you okay?"

"Fine!" Ranma choked through the knot in his throat. "Can you just get on with it?" he glared at the minister.

Akane pressed her lips together, suppressing the laugh threatening to erupt from her mouth. She could see a thin sheen of tears lining his eyes.

"Do you plan to exchange rings?" the reverend asked.

"Uh…" Ranma paused and then looked around his immediate area. "Um… hang on." He ran back outside to the foyer and then quickly returned with two resort souvenir keychains that were sold in the foyer. He quickly disassembled it, all while quickly saying "I'll pay for these later. Or, can you charge my room?"

The reverend shook his head, silently dismissing payment.

Ranma continued to fiddle with the chains, taking off the charms, until only the small split rings remained. He tossed the rest of the keychains onto the front pew, while handing one ring to Akane. "Okay, ready," he said.

The minister had recited words for Ranma to repeat, but Ranma took the liberty of modify it when necessary. "I give you this ring… as a symbol of my love and devotion… I commit my heart and soul to you… I ask you to wear this ring… at least until we get back home and I buy you a real one… as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day."

As he said the last three words, he slipped the ring onto her left thumb, seeing as the split ring was far too wide for her ring finger.

She repeated the words as well, with her own changes. "I give you this ring… as a symbol of my love and devotion… I commit my heart and soul to you… I ask you to wear this ring… until I also get you one… as a reminder of the vows we have spoken, our wedding day…" Akane placed the ring on the his left thumb as well, as the weight of the words began to hit her full force. They rejoined hands.

"And if I may..." the reverend stated, "You have both entered this bond of marriage. Please remember this. Remember what brought you here in the first place. Choose kindness and respect, especially during times of turmoil and frustration. Because there will be times when it seems tough, and your lives seem cloudy and dark. But always remember that the sun still exists, even if you lose sight of it. Never forget that." The minister smiled down on both of them and stated his last few lines of the ceremony. "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Akane nervously looked to Ranma, who must have been blushing as equally as her. "So…" she looked up to the minister. "Is this where we… kiss?"

"If you want," he teased good-naturedly. "But you're adults, you can make that decision."

"Right," Ranma breathed just as Akane exhaled. He let go of both hands and reached up to her arms, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. But then, his brow softly furrowed and he reached one hand up to cradle her face. This caused her to look at him, straight into his blue-grey eyes as he used his thumb to gently wipe a small tear that managed to fall down her face. Akane hadn't realized how much she wanted to cry. But everything she was feeling was too raw and too real. Staring into his eyes, so close like this, she saw it all. His nervousness, his trust, his fear, his loyalty…

And her heart kept returning to the time in Jusenkyo, the look she opened her eyes to, his own face smeared with tears.

There was hope in those eyes. She saw that too at the very moment.

Akane placed a hand to his chest and another to gently grip his wrist and sprang to her toes, kissing him. The sensation sent chills all over her body. She had kissed, been kissed by him before, and it always made her heart race, and her mind spin. But this was different, this wasn't just a kiss between a couple, much less to her fiance. This was her first kiss with him as his wife.

As she fell back on her sandaled flat feet, the minister said his congratulations and left them alone. They stood silent for a moment, relishing in the aftermath of their decision. While holding hands, Ranma and Akane both walked to a nearby pew space, and took a seat, facing the floor to ceiling windows.

Both took in and released a breath, at different times. Then, Ranma's voice split the silence in half. "We're… we're married."

"Yeah…" was all Akane could manage to say.

"We're married," he repeated. "Well, maybe not officially on the country paperwork, just to God or whatever, but… we're married."

"Yeah…"

"That's… pretty cool." A gentle smile formed on his lips.

Akane did the same thing. "Yeah," she agreed. "It is." She looked at him. "So, what do we do now?" Tell everyone? Pretend nothing happened? She didn't anticipate anything that far yet.

At first, Ranma didn't have an answer. "I don't know," he said as he draped his left arm behind her backrest. "I… I kinda just want to sit here for a little longer."

"Okay." A couple of few extra minutes wouldn't hurt. Akane leaned back into his arms, sitting flush against his body, feeling the faint rhythm of his heartbeat. Ranma readjusted his left arm so that it was over her shoulders, his left hand hovering over her left shoulder. Akane reached for his left hand with her own, the two split rings brushing each other as their hands gripped one another, their fingers intertwined.


	2. Chapter 2

Split Ring

A Ranma 1/2 fanfic

Ranma Saotome/Akane Tendo

Author's Note: Part 2. This was supposed to only be a one-shot. What the heck happened? Will there be more after this? Who knows.

* * *

She couldn't put her finger on it but something was definitely different. Nabiki stood quietly, arms crossed, under the overhang of the resort entrance.

The short vacation was a nice break for her routine at college. Summer break was going to be over in a few weeks, and fall semester was about to start. It had been years since she's been to a beach, so when dad and Mr. Saotome gathered enough cash to pony up for a trip, she was happy her plan worked.

Anyway, back to the business in front of her.

Sasuke, the Kuno family's manservant, pushed the Kunos in their stretch limo (both unconscious from a fight), and headed back to their home. Happosai was buried in a cave somewhere on the coastline that would fill up during high tide (he would manage to escape, he always did, Nabiki shrugged). The rest of the lot were packing up, loading into the 15-seater van that her dad had rented for the trip while on the island.

She watched as Ranma attempted to poorly stack everyone's luggage into the back, with Akane barking suggestions, orders really.

"That one should be small enough to fit under the back bench," Akane pointed to a purple duffel. "Just turn it on its side!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Ranma insisted. "And why am I the only one out here putting bags in? Where the hell is my old man?"

Nabiki looked over to her right as a figure came into her peripheral. Her older sister had emerged from the lobby, wheeling her bag towards Ranma. "Father and Mr. Saotome are almost done checking out, they just have one more errand to run."

"Probably to the bar to drink, so they don't have to drive," Nabiki ventured a guess out loud.

"Thank you for taking the time and putting the bags away. I'm sorry for all the trouble," Kasumi said as he took possession of her bag.

"No, it's fine. Don't know why he had to lie about how checking out was going to be complicated or whatever," Ranma looked back at the trunk and tried to continue playing Tetris with all the bags.

Now that Nabiki looked at it, most of the bags belonged to the unwelcomed guests. A handful of weapons, a mini flat top grill... Nabiki's eyes glanced over to Shampoo and Ukyo, who were sitting at a bench, together, whispering to one another, all while glaring at Ranma and Akane, as she continued to critique his packing technique. Mousse, in duck form, sat quietly next to Shampoo, fast asleep.

Now that she thought about it, those two hadn't been too happy for the last two days of vacation. It started off as normal. They would throw themselves on Ranma, trying to convince him to go out for some romantic rendevous. But two days ago, his mild rejections had actually had bite to them.

Shampoo suggested a couple's massage. "No, I'm not doing stuff like that with you."

Ukyo suggested a couple's hike. "Thanks, but nope."

Kodachi invited him to her private bungalow. "That's not happening. Ever."

For years, Ranma would either not reject them outright, or if he did, would backpedal when they reacted hurt or angry. This time, nothing, he kept his resolve as much as he could. Shampoo would shriek with complaints, Ukyo would whine, Kodachi would try to drug him, and all Ranma did was reiterate his responses, and then left.

This was a new Ranma. But why?

And it wasn't just about them. He hadn't called Akane "uncute" in the past two days, which was a whole entire record. Nabiki had known him for two years. Ranma had called her that at least once a day.

And as for Akane, she didn't get physically violent with him whenever the other girls advanced on him. Usually, Akane would huff, assume the worst and stomp away, leaving a malleted Ranma in her wake. This time, whenever the girls would attempt an arm grab, a hug, any sort of physical attention from Ranma, Nabiki noticed that Akane would glance over, look straight into Ranma's eyes, and then continued on with what she was doing.

Nabiki's eyes narrowed. Something definitely happened between the two of them. What, did they call a truce until the end of the vacation?

Nabiki heard a crash. When she looked up, she saw the pile of luggage on top of Ranma's body, pinning him down to the floor. But he wasn't concerned with the baggage on him; he was looking in Nabiki's general direction. He cursed. "Akane," he called, "my-."

"I got it," she walked towards her older sister. Nabiki caught movement rolling down the pavement, starting from Ranma's vicinity, and heading straight for her toes. It hit the front of her sandal, and then immediately tipped over onto the ground.

Nabiki bent over to pick it up. It looked like one of those large rings that's on a keychain. Did it fall off his bag or something? Where was the rest of the broken keychain?

"Thanks, Nabiki," Akane held her hand out to the brown haired woman.

Nabiki stood up straight, held the split ring, and dropped it into Akane' possession.

It only took a couple of seconds, but Nabiki caught it in one glance. There, on Akane's outstretched left hand, was an identical split ring on her thumb.

Nabiki's eyebrow tweaked. She watched her little sister return to the man, handing him the split ring. He immediately placed it on his left thumb. "Thanks," he said to her. Ranma then began to mutter something so only Akane could hear.

Damn, if only Nabiki could read lips.

Whatever Ranma said to her, it was enough to see Akane's eyebrow visibly twitch.

Here it comes, Nabiki thought, a blow on the head.

Akane tightened her left fist, lightly jabbing Ranma in the rib. He doubled over slightly, but then crossed his left arm over his body, his left hand holding her left fist flush against his torso. He stuck his tongue out at her.

And she… she gently smiled back, a soft blush forming on her face.

Nabiki's eyes darted back from their exchange of looks to their touching hands, and back. A small glare from the two split rings they were wearing caught her eyes as it caught some sunlight.

Ah-hah. So that's what happened.

Nabiki glanced over to Kasumi, who was looking right back at her, a knowing smile on her face.

Guess she figured it out too, Nabiki thought. Her attention turned back to the couple, as Akane proceeded to turn the bags right-side up, and then Ranma, who started to once again, stack then in the trunk of the van.

When she got home, Nabiki promised herself, she would look over the books again, and see how much money the dojo would need to save for Akane and Ranma. Because, regardless of her supposed manipulative money-making reputation, or her cool exterior, Nabiki still wanted to watch her little sister get married.


	3. Chapter 3

Split Ring

A Ranma 1/2 fanfic

Notes: Part 3. What, a third part? I know, I'm just as surprised as you are. Full author's notes at the very bottom.

* * *

"Why do you wear a keyring thing on your hand?"

Ranma looked up from his food. He and his schoolmates, Daisuke and Hiroshi, were enjoying the warm fall air, as they sat down for their lunch break. The sun was beating down on the roof of Furinkan High School, so the three young men took shade under the overhang, which surrounded the entryway to the roof. Ranma glanced at his left thumb as if he was glancing at a watch, then returned to his riceball in hand. "It's nothing."

"But you've been wearing it since you got back from break," Daisuke added to Hiroshi's question. "I thought you wore it to remind you of something, like how people tie strings on their fingers so they won't forget to go grocery shopping. But you've been wearing that for, what, at least a month."

"Come on, Saotome. Or did you forget what the reminder was for?"

Ranma just shrugged. In reality, there was no way he could forget what it reminded him of. Of a warm Okinawan afternoon. Of a beautiful view of the sky and ocean. Of standing at an altar, in front of his tomboy who he never expected to fall for that hard and that fast. Of kissing her, promising himself and her to be forever faithful to her. On their terms, not their families. He brought the soda can to his lips, trying to nonchalantly cover his emerging smile and his rising blush.

It had been a month and some weeks since they got 'married'. They returned to school like normal, returned to their normal home life as best as they could. But he couldn't help but notice how things were different. How, when she jabbed him in annoyance, her fist would linger at the point of contact. How, when they would walk through town, they were in-step, and much closer so that their shoulders brushed. How, sometimes, if no one was in the hallways, he drop by her room, exchange goodnights, and then share a quick hug before anyone said or noticed anything. How, if luck was on their side on certain nights, Ranma would sneak to Akane's room, and he would lounge back on her bed while she laid against him, talking, reading a book, anything at all for at least an hour or two.

A few hours later, school ended. Ranma and Akane walked home on a new route, one that added another ten minutes to their trip. As the crowd of Furinkan students thinned out and dispersed, Ranma wordlessly reached out his hand to Akane's left, taking it in his own.

She smiled at him. He half-smiled back in response and rubbed his fingers over her knuckles, right where her middle and ring knuckle usually made contact with a punch, feeling her thin calluses. Her fingers were completely bare. Ranma's steps slowed down as he looked down to her hand.

"Oh," it was as if she read his mind. "It kept falling off, and I didn't want to lose it, so…" she reached her free hand towards her collar and pulled out a black cord necklace, with the split ring threaded through.

"Oh," was all Ranma said to the matter. That was a good idea, considering how much smaller her hand was, compared to his.

As they reached closer to home, they gently let go of one another, yet still kept their proximity.

And then, sometime after dinner, it began to irk Ranma. One of his first promises as her 'husband' was to get her a ring. It's been over a month, and he had not fulfilled his promise. Was he or was he not a man?

Problem was, rings were expensive. And, he wasn't rolling in yen either. Ranma sat at the dining table, watching TV, internally sighing over his own poverty. Kasumi had just come in, placed the day's mail on the table for her father to sift through.

"Hey, Sis," Nabiki called out to her, eyes glued to her phone. "Check this out."

While Kasumi looked on to the smaller screen in her younger sister's hand, Ranma kept his eyes on the larger screen in the dining room. He stayed still, leaning his elbow on the table, head cradled in his hand. What to do, what to do…

In the corner of his eye, he noticed a department store flyer sitting on the table. He tried his best not to look particularly interested in it, but he managed to at least grab a quick glance at the prices. It only annoyed him even more. 90,000 yen to start? For a tiny single diamond ring? What kind of robbery was that?

But that was a big department store price. Maybe things were cheaper at small mom and pop shops, right?

No, he soon found out. Akane went out to a movie with Sayuri, so he took the opportunity to go jewelry hunting. He walked into a small shop off his normal trek home and immediately walked out. The prices were the same, just about.

"Great," he grumbled, defeated. Ranma arrived home, once again, ringless and still broke. He checked in the dining room to see that Genma and Soun were engrossed in a game of shogi. And there, again, on the corner of the dining table, was today's mail. With his back to the adults, he took the department store flyers, and exited the room. He walked up the stairs and quickly headed to his room. He flopped down on the floor and began to flip through the pages. "Geez," he hissed through his teeth. Still, everything was so expensive. Is this what people expect when you got married? To pay double a mortgage payment for a piece of shiny jewelry?

The door slowly slid opened; Ranma stuffed all the flyers under his seat. To his surprise, Nabiki walked through the door and closed it behind her. "There won't be any sales until maybe this winter."

"Wh-what?" he feigned ignorance.

"Jewelry sales," the middle sister took a few steps into the room, arms crossed. "Best time to buy jewelry is the Christmas season. After that, around Valentine's Day and White Day. For rings especially."

Ranma could feel his body flush from his face, all the way down to his neck. "Wh-wh-what are you talking about? Why would I want to buy a ring?"

"I can only assume to replace the keychain rings you and Akane both wear," she said, pointing down to his hand. "Probably because you two decided to elope last minute and you didn't have rings to exchange."

Ranma tried to hide his hand away from view.

"Did you even pay for the keychains you used?"

Ranma's brow twitched. "The guy gifted it, I think," he replied curtly. "Who else knows?"

"Pretty sure it's just Kasumi and me."

He nodded. That was a relief. Kasumi was very trustworthy. Then again, Nabiki always calculated anything for the sake of profit. "I want to keep it that way. Let Akane and I deal with it ourselves."

"That's fine," Nabiki shrugged, "but someone is going to notice eventually that the two of you are wearing those. Might as well make it count. Probably best to swap it out for something less, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for…"

'Cheap, go on, say it,' he could feel his pride being attacked, like a punch to the gut. "Not like it matters," Ranma huffed. "This crap is too rich for me."

She arched an eyebrow. "Let me throw you a line here…"

"I don't want money from you, Nabiki," Ranma interjected before she could offer. Call him crazy, but things like this should be from him. Christmas presents are one thing, but wedding rings? No, he had to draw a line somewhere, right?

"I wasn't planning to. I was going to give you some advice," Nabiki finished. "This is Akane we're talking about. She's not a fancy girl."

"Yeah, I know," he said, "but even the simple stuff is expensive. Hell, even a single band with nothing on it is out of my budget."

"What's your budget?"

"Whatever I can steal from Pops' wallet without him noticing."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Are you serious?"

"I don't have a job, okay?"

"You know, Daddy is probably still holding onto the ring for that ceremony from last year. You could always use that."

Ranma shook his head. "What we did in Okinawa was on our terms not anyone else's. I want it to stay that way." Which was true. He was sure their fathers' had kept their wedding bands somewhere, but it wasn't even a consideration.

Nabiki smiled. "Why don't you think outside the box? It doesn't have to be a diamond. It doesn't have to be platinum. Heck, it doesn't even have to be gold. It's just gotta be a ring, and it's gotta be Akane."

Ranma nodded, taking in her advice. "Hey, can I borrow your laptop?"

It took him hours to search, but he ran into something that caught his eye. In his very meager budget, and definitely Akane.

It took about a week to show up in the mail. He was stalking the mailbox and the front door for days, tracking it on the computer at school when he found a few minutes of downtime. Finally, it arrived.

So, while everyone was in bed or turned in for the night, Ranma made a trip to his wife's room. He hopped out of his bedroom window and crossed the tiled roof, over to hers at the house's corner. He flipped and suspended himself upside down, while wrapping on her window.

Akane was about to turn her desk lamp off before she heard his knock. She reached over the desk and opened the window. "Hey," she greeted him. She stepped aside, giving Ranma space to land.

Ranma gave a small hop, flipped and landed in the window opening with perfect precision. "I know we already said our goodnights, but I wanted to give something to you." He stepped into her bedroom, and onto the floor next to her.

"To me?"

"Yeah. To replace the one I gave you, you know. Earlier. In Okinawa."

"Oh." Her fingertips brushed a spot under her clavicle, a brush creeping up to her face. "You didn't have to-."

"I-I know," he stammered, "but I said I would. And I want to. So, yeah." He could feel his own blush creeping up his neck. Before he had a change of mind, he held out the small black pouch in his hand, thrusting it into her view. "Here."

Her eyes widened. "Ranma…" she took it in her hands and slowly unzipped it to reveal its contents. She looked to the ring, then back at him. Inside was a smooth, red, silicone band.

"Remember, I don't have a job or nothing," he defended. "But this seemed like a good idea. Red, because you know, your name, but silicone can easily expand and contract. So, it won't hurt you if you punch anybody or nothin'."

Akane picked it out of the pouch and examined it, her eyes unreadable to him. Did she hate it? What was she thinking? Then, he saw a glimmer in her eyes. "You initialed the inside?"

"Y-yeah," he scratched his cheek, displaying one of those nervous ticks. "Since it wasn't a diamond or gold or whatever, I still wanted to make it meaningful." He kept his gaze on her, studying her face. When they sparred, she was so easy to read, but now… Now, he didn't know what was going on. "You… you don't like it?" he could feel his mood sink.

Akane shook her head quickly. "No! It's not that, just…" she reached down to the desk drawer closest to the bed and opened it. To Ranma's utter amazement, she pulled out an identical black pouch. "... it's just, I'm surprised how much we think alike."

"You mean, you…"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded.

Ranma quickly opened the pouch and revealed the ring inside: a single black band, similar to Akane's, only thicker, with a thin red bar running along the middle.

"I engraved it, too," she admitted sheepishly.

There, right along the inside where the red color ran, were the initials "AT", in the same block font as the "RS" which resided in her ring. "Red and black?"

"Well, at first, it was to symbolize your hair color change when you become a girl, but the fact that mine is red, that'll work too," Akane giggled. "Where did you get the idea for the silicone?"

"Well, Nabiki told me to think outside the box, so while I was poking around her laptop, I noticed this site pop up in the sponsored part of the browser and…" he looked down to Akane. "What?"

Akane smiled, amused at something she realized. "I asked Kasumi for help, and we borrowed Nabiki's laptop to browse websites."

Huh, interesting, Ranma thought. Then again, they both knew, didn't they? "I think we just got played. Who knew Kasumi had it in her?"

"Never underestimate my oldest sister," Akane giggled. And then her expression straightened, looking down at the ring. "Ranma… how did you pay for this? I mean, it's an online store, so how? You don't have a credit card."

"Neither do you."

"I used Kasumi's."

"Oh. I used Pops'."

Akane's expression fell in disbelief. "You used your dad's credit card?!" Akane exclaimed, hissing, trying to keep her voice down.

"It's an online store, what was I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know! Maybe borrow Kasumi's card?!"

"How was I supposed to know she has a credit card? Besides, I only had cash!"

"So, why didn't you give her the cash so you could use her card?!"

"Okay, again, how was I supposed to know Kasumi has a credit card?" Ranma was pretty sure that his dad didn't constantly monitor his transactions, but then again...

"Then ask!" Akane huffed, and then took a long deep breath, trying to relax. "Geez, well, too late now. Looks like your dad might find out sooner or later. Meaning, my dad too." Her eyes fell down to the ring nestled in her palm, her brow furrowed towards each other. "Now what?"

Ranma looked at her.

"It looks like this ring will actually fit this finger," she spoke, as if musing out loud. Akane tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "But… what should we do? Actually wear them properly? It's going to get us in trouble."

Trouble? Meaning their parents' meddling, Shampoo, that old chrone Cologne, Ukyo, Ryouga, among many more... Ranma had been lamenting on it for weeks. What did it mean for him to give her the ring? That he kept his promise? Sure, that's all fine and well, but if he was honest with himself, he wanted her to wear the ring. He wanted people to see that she was wearing a ring. That meant more to him than he thought it ever would.

To hell with trouble. Ranma took the ring from her.

"Ranma?"

Ranma took the red ring out of the pouch, tossing the pouch on her bed. He reached for her left hand and guided the ring onto her left fourth finger. "Bring on the trouble, we can take it. Right?"

Akane's worried expression faded as she smiled at her hand, then him. "So long as I'm with you, like you said."

Ranma could feel his face blush, as she referred to his vows back in Okinawa. He watched her as she gently took his ring in her own hand, then placed the ring onto his left fourth finger. But she didn't let go of his hand; she drew delicate lines with her fingers, caressing the skin of his hand with feather-like touches. Ranma watched and marveled at the sight of the ring, the one he bought her, grace her finger, the one that so happened to match the one he wore.

Ranma raised his hand to cradle his wife's face; Akane's face looked up to him. He could feel his body warm up again at the anticipation of what he was about to do next. He leaned forward…

And then froze when he heard someone knock as they placed their hands on Akane's bedroom doorknob. Ranma immediately jumped out of the open window, and placed a firm grip on the window sill, dangling out of sight.

"Oh," he could hear Kasumi's voice. "Good, you're still up. Father forgot to mention that tomorrow morning is going to be a full class, so he'll need both you and Ranma up at seven to help instruct."

"Oh-okay," Akane answered, her voice tightened ever so slightly.

"Well, goodnight, Akane. Good night, Ranma."

Wait, how did she know? "G'night," Ranma responded back. As soon as he hoisted himself on the window sill, the door softly closed. They were alone in the room again. "Don't underestimate her, huh?" he reiterated Akane's words from earlier.

"Told you," she said.

Ranma pulled himself up so that he balanced on his toes on the metal window track, knees to his chest. "Guess that's our cue to go to sleep."

"Mmm. Guess so."

Ranma watched as Akane approached the window and wrapped her arms around his neck; he returned the action by embracing her. He tilted his head towards her, taking in her melon and fresh linen scent again. And then, Ranma could feel her slightly pull away, her temple pressed against his. She tilted her head to face him. "Ranma…"

Ranma's eyes widened, noticing how her lips were angled towards his. There was something exhilarating and comforting all at once when he was this close to her. It felt like the high he got when mastering a new technique, but also like watching the sunrise. Exciting and calming all at once. And the feelings began to multiply as her lips moved closer and closer to his. Ranma slowly closed his eyes in anticipation.

And then, when there was only a breath between them, with her lips brushing, hovering over his, she softly whispered, "Good night, Ranma." She pulled away from him, one hand on each side of the window frame.

Ranma's eyes snapped open. He could feel himself heat up from head to toe, a mix of embarrassment, annoyance and something else. The little minx! "Smooth, Tendo. Real smooth. You'll pay for that."

She just smirked at him, satisfaction painted all over her face. "I look forward to it."

That's right, he thought. They vowed to each other a whole lifetime to mess with one another. The idea brought a smile to his face. With that, he jumped out the window and made his way across the rooftop to his room. He twiddled his fingers on his left hand, feeling the new sensation on his ring finger. His smile broadened.

...owari.

* * *

Gibberish:

A couple of notes regarding inspiration.

Part 1: Mostly inspired by How I Met Your Mother "Something Borrowed" episode (I think!), when Lily and Marshall were encountering problem after problem during their wedding day. To remedy the situation, the two of them exchanged vows in the garden, in front of Robin, Barney and Ted. It was a small, intimate ceremony, just like how the couple originally wanted. So that, the various problems related to the big ceremony didn't matter, because the moment that was important to them happened early. And sure, Ranma and Akane are still high schoolers, and they didn't officially marry, I understand that, but it was more on the lines of… a commitment vow, for lack of a better word? So, the keychains were almost like a promise ring. At least until they really got married.

Part 2: Nothing in particular. Nabiki's POV was just an interesting exercise.

Part 3: Some two years after my husband and I got married, he lost 30 pounds, causing his ring to be very loose. He didn't want me to buy anything expensive to replace it. At the time, he was doing Crossfit workouts, and that's when I heard about the Qalo silicone rings. I bought him a black band to replace his ill-fitting first ring (which fell down the drain when it slipped off while he was showering, forever lost… but I digress). And during our most recent anniversary, he bought me a thin black band to match his. And if you're curious, they are around $20 USD. Totally in a teenager's budget.

Well, anyway, thanks for letting me rattle on. Hope you enjoyed this warm and fluffy fic.


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